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UW-EC to participate in $2.2M National Science Foundation Study

Madeline Fuerstenberg, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·4 min read

Oct. 28—EAU CLAIRE — Eau Claire is currently home to over 3,000 Hmong residents, according to the Chippewa Valley Museum, comprising the city's largest ethnic minority group and much of UW-Eau Claire's minority population.

As stated by PBS, Hmong-Americans make up the largest Asian-American ethnic group in Wisconsin at a population of 58,000.

Despite the ethnic group's prevalence on campus, in the community and across the state — and the persistent "model minority stereotype" that tends to be applied to Asian-Americans — researchers have noted that many first-generation Hmong students often struggle to meet minimum exam scores and attain high enough GPAs for college, according to a UW-Eau Claire news release.

In an effort to understand and improve the educational experiences of Hmong-Americans in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) more broadly, UW-Eau Claire has joined UW-Madison and UW-Oshkosh in a $2.2 million National Science Foundation Study.

"A larger, broader goal would be to improve educational outcomes for Hmong-American students generally across higher education, not just in STEM," Kong Pheng Pha, a UW-Eau Claire associate professor of critical Hmong studies and women's, gender and sexuality studies, told the Leader-Telegram. Pha is a co-principal investigator on the NSF study.

The study originated at UW-Madison a few years ago, explained Pha. The pilot research conducted at the Madison campus focused primarily on interviewing Hmong students who are majoring in STEM, or who have left STEM, as well as professors who work with Hmong students.

UW-Madison's pilot project indicated some advisors were not encouraging Hmong students to enroll in STEM programs because STEM was thought to be too difficult for the students, the university news release stated.

When UW-Madison wanted to expand the project and apply for NSF's Racial Equity in STEM program funding, it turned to UW-Eau Claire and UW-Oshkosh.

Matthew Wolfgram, a researcher at UW-Madison's Wisconsin Center for Education Research, is currently leading the study alongside principal investigators Pha; Mai See Thao, director of Hmong Studies at UW Oshkosh; Stacey Lee, a UW-Madison School of Education professor; and Bailey Smolarek, an associate researcher at UW-Madison.

"We feel this is an opportunity to expand our work and take it more to the state beyond the flagship," Wolfgram stated in the news release. "We're super excited about the opportunity to expand the opportunities and make it more relevant to the UW System at large. The Fox Valley and Chippewa Valley are major population centers in Wisconsin for Hmong Americans."

Pha said the next phase of the study, which is covered by the NSF grant through 2026, will be UW System-wide. The goal is to survey 200 to 300 Hmong students across all UW campuses. That stage, Pha said, will kick-off during the upcoming spring semester.

Next, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Oshkosh will replicate UW-Madison's pilot research on their own campuses, interviewing Hmong students, staff and advisors. This phase is slated for late summer or early fall of 2023, Pha said.

UW-Eau Claire's branch of the research, which will be covered by $252,817 of the NSF grant, will be completed with the help of two or three undergraduate student researchers.

The data collected will be disseminated in the form of policy reports that Pha and the other researchers hope to present before university administrators and leaders. One day, Pha said, they even hope to present their findings to the UW System Board of Regents. The data will also be distributed across other campuses, presented at research conferences and published in an academic journal.

Pha also hopes to present the data to the Eau Claire community.

"It's really important, I would say, because Hmong students — a lot of them go to UW System schools, but there is still a significant — in my opinion — not a good enough graduation rate for Hmong students, especially in STEM," Pha said.

"We know that, especially in the workforce, Hmong people also have very low employment rates and earnings, yearly income rates," he continued. "We're really seeing this educational outcome as being directly related to future potential earnings with people who are entering STEM fields. So, we want to improve the conditions for Hmong students, but also for Hmong communities."

Pha said it's important to ensure that the Hmong community in Eau Claire and across the state is supported and encouraged to thrive. UW-Eau Claire's critical Hmong studies program, he said, plays a role in exposing more people to the culture and allowing students the opportunities needed to succeed.

"I do think that critical Hmong studies at UW-Eau Claire is such a unique program," Pha said. "We are doing really cutting-edge research with students. This program really allows for students to do these high-impact practices."